Ellie Kemper Confirms She’s Not as Smiley as Kimmy Schmidt (Nobody Could Be)

Though the thought of years wasted in a doomsday cult bunker haven't managed to wipe the relentless smile off of Kimmy Schmidt's face, star Ellie Kemper confirms there's no way she'd be grinning as widely as her Netflix character.

In an interview with HitFixpublished today, Kemper, who's played a series of sunny characters (Erin from The Office, Becca from Bridesmaids), says she often finds herself on the defense when fans assume she's equally as bubbly.

"Some people ask, 'Does your face hurt by the end of the day?' I’m like, 'Well, I’m not smiling all day. I’m only smiling in the scenes. There’s time between the scenes,'" she explains. "But I will say, I always feel when we are between lighting setups, and I’m just standing like this, people will be like, 'Is everything okay?' And I’m like, 'Wait, yeah, I’m not smiling that big all of the time. I’m a person.'"

"I think if you’re known a certain way, that’s fine with me, at least for the time being," she adds.

And though Kimmy found her Season 1 nemesis in brainwashing cult leader Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (played by Jon Hamm), Kemper says Hamm, who once served as her drama instructor when she was a high school student, has been on her side through her career.

"...Being in a scene with him was actually very emotional for me," she recalls. "I don’t know why, because it’s not like I was in school with him. That scene where he’s testing me and telling me to go out into the apocalypse, is heavy, and I felt very, I don’t know, it was just emotional for me for some reason, because it just reminded me of childhood and everything, and it was powerful. But it was such a thrill to be able to act with him. I flubbed my first line, of course."